The second update, please give me a monthly ticket!

———

Yuan Shu has had a headache recently.

He was originally very proud, but although he was forced to withdraw from Nanyang, this retreat gave him a big advantage. First, he avoided the dilemma of being attacked on both sides and no longer had to be attacked by Zang Min and Liu Biao. Although Cao Cao is in the north, Cao Cao is in a difficult situation and is basically on the defensive position. He is unable to cause any trouble for him, so he can free up his hands to capture Jingzhou.

Only then did he realize that Liu Biao really couldn't do it. In a few months, Sun Jian captured most of Jiangxia. The prefect of Jiangxia Huang Zu was trapped in Xiling. Liu Biao sent Cai Mao to rescue him, but the navy led by Cai Mao could only control the Yangtze River, but could not break Sun Jian's front and rescue Huang Zu, let alone defeat Sun Jian.

When Sun Jian was advancing all the way, Yuan Shu wanted to take this opportunity to take the two counties of Jiujiang and Lujiang. In this way, his territory was all north of the Yangtze River. Next, he was preparing to cross the river to enter Yuzhang and Danyang. Yuzhang is the largest county in Yangzhou, thousands of miles north and south. After succeeding, Changsha and Guiyang in Jingzhou are at your fingertips. Danyang is an important town in the lower reaches of the river, and is connected with Wuzhang to the east. It has been a prosperous place since ancient times.

But he encountered trouble. He originally thought that the prefect of Lujiang, Yang Xu and the prefect of Jiujiang, Zhou Ang were both former officials of the Yuan family. As long as he sent a letter, the two of them would greet each other. Unexpectedly, they were disappointed. Zhou Ang was a little better, but he just ignored the envoy. Yang Xu cursed and tore up Yuan Shu's letter, swearing to send troops to attack Yuan Shu, a rebel.

When Yuan Shu heard the reward, he was so angry that he ran to Yuan Wei that these two people had betrayed us and I wanted to attack them.

Yuan Wei didn't say anything for a long time, and finally shook his head. "No."

Yuan Shu was very surprised, "Why can't it?"

"Our center of gravity is not on Jiujiang and Lujiang." Yuan Wei supported his head with one hand and knocked on the map on the table with the other: "Our center of gravity is in Yanzhou. Cao Cao is across us, making it impossible for us to communicate. This is the biggest problem. Zhou Ang and Yang Xu are just watching the changes. I, Yuan Shu, have been in the army for two years. If they really want to be loyal ministers of the court, why should they wait until this day?"

Yuan Shu was still a little unwilling to accept it. Yuan Wei glared at him: "Don't make too many enemies. You will follow the mistakes of Nanyang. Just take Jiangxia with your heart. After taking Jiangxia, you will lead the Western Division. Then take Nanyang and Nanjun, which is better than fighting Danyang and Jiujiang."

Yuan Shu was a little angry and embarrassed. Although the retreat from Nanyang allowed him to relieve his predicament, he was driven out after all, which was not good-looking. He was the most annoying to mention this point. Yuan Wei said that he did not dare to talk back, but he was still very unhappy. He thought for a while: "Father, I think there is room for discussion in this plan."

Yuan Wei knew that he was feeling uncomfortable, but he still signaled Yuan Shu according to his temperament: "Then tell me. What's wrong with it?"

Yuan Shu coughed and said seriously: "The reason why I withdrew from Nanyang is not because of Liu Biao or Zang Min. They fought with me for two years, but I did not give in. I often gained some advantage. This time I was forced to withdraw from Nanyang. The fundamental reason was that the 10,000 army led by Fu Xie."

Yuan Wei raised his eyebrows and nodded thoughtfully.

"If we take Nanyang again, we will undoubtedly face Liu Xiu again. It seems that we are advancing, but in fact we are forcing ourselves to a situation where we have to fight with Liu Xiu. With our current strength, can we be Liu Xiu's opponent?" Yuan Shu shook his head: "In front of my father, I dare not speak loudly. I admit that I am not Liu Xiu's opponent, at least not at the moment." He glanced at Yuan Wei and said: "Even if it was Benchu, he would not be sure to defeat Liu Xiu. Otherwise, he would have entered Bingzhou long ago."

Yuan Wei let out a long breath and frowned. He agreed with Yuan Shu's opinion. Their biggest enemy was not the court, and the court was only left with an empty shell. Their biggest enemy was Liu Xiu. There was a battle with Liu Xiu sooner or later, but for them, for Liu Xiu, they were not ready at the moment and were unwilling to act hastily. Liu Xiu had just obtained Yizhou and wanted to take a deep foundation in Yizhou. They occupied Guandong, but were divided by Cao Cao in Jianghuai and Hebei. The beginning and end could not be connected. Yuan Shao was blocked by Taihang and could not move westward to Bingzhou. Yuan Shu had just withdrawn from Nanyang, but was a blessing in disguise. Liu Biao refused to let Liu Xiu enter the Jingzhou realm, and set up a barrier between Yuan Shu and Liu Xiu, so that Yuan Shu would not have to confront Liu Xiu for the time being. At this time, it was not a way to free up his hands to attack Yangzhou, at least it would be better than to attack Jingzhou.

It seems that Yuan Shu's strategic vision has made great progress, and Yuan Wei nodded with relief.

"Your opinion makes some sense, but I still don't agree with the force of attacking Jiujiang and Lujiang. I believe they will not attack us on our own initiative." Yuan Wei thought for a while and said, "Feng Qi, the prefect of Yuzhang, is from Runan. At that time, I recommended him to serve as an official. Some time ago, he told me through his brother Feng Li that we can enter Yuzhang at any time. Even if Yang Xu wants to attack us, Feng Qi can restrain him from the back, and Yang Xu is incompetent."

He clicked the map again: "It is the most urgent thing to break through Cao Cao."

Yuan Shu was a little depressed, and Yuan Wei still disagreed with his strategy and insisted on attacking Cao Cao. He instinctively rejected this decision in his heart, because once the connection with Yuan Shao was opened, he didn't know where he would be.

He always felt that he should be the head of the next generation of the Yuan family, but this was just his own thought. Regardless of whether he was willing to admit it or not, from various signs, Yuan Shao's reputation was far above him. He was not convinced, but he had no choice. His record was not as good as Yuan Shao, and his control was not as strong as Yuan Shao. All of this he had at present came from Yuan Wei, not himself.

He even felt that Yang Xu and Zhou Ang probably refused to bow to him because of this reason. If Yuan Shao had written a letter to them, they would definitely not have had such a reaction.

"Why are you in a hurry to beat Cao Cao?" Yuan Shu was still a little unwilling to give up: "Cao Cao is just a fish in a dry rut that can be broken at any time. But if you kill him, the court will definitely arrange for Liu Xiu to come, which is not a good thing for us."

"I don't know this." Yuan Wei shook his head helplessly: "You are right. Keeping Cao Cao is not a bad thing. The longer the time goes on, the closer the Guandong will depend on us. It is not the best idea to be anxious to fight Liu Xiu. But I just got the news that Cao Cao not only obtained 4,000 new war horses, but also supported a batch of food for him."

Yuan Shu was surprised: "Food? Who can support him with food?"

It is not surprising that Cao Cao had war horses. Now the land of horse production in the Han Dynasty is in the hands of Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu, like them, also needs time to prepare. He sends thousands of war horses to the court every year as taxes to pay, which is normal. However, it is abnormal for someone to support Cao Cao. The main grain production areas are in Guandong, most of them are in the hands of Yuan, and a small part is in the hands of Cao Cao himself. Others have no food. It is understandable to ask Cao Cao for help. How could he support Cao Cao in turn?

If this matter is true, then destroying Cao Cao before he grows stronger is a strategy that Yuan family has to adopt, even if it will cause conflicts with Liu Xiu in advance.

"I don't know." Yuan Wei smiled bitterly: "It is said that the grain comes from the East China Sea, but not long before the grain is transported, the powerful men of Yanzhou transported a large number of silk to Luoyang. Now, the silk from Xuzhou and Qingzhou areas are still transporting to Luoyang in a steady stream." He stared at Yuan Shu's eyes, "You think, should we seize Yanzhou first and cut off this trade route to Luoyang?"

Yuan Shu was filled with a cold breath. Without Yuan Wei's reminder, he also realized the crisis.

The world has been in chaos for three or four years. Who has suffered the greatest losses? Those ordinary people have nothing to lose except for their lives. The biggest losses are the powerful families in various places. In the world, the people cannot farm with peace of mind. Food is short of food. Except for the sharp rise in strategic materials such as grain, salt, iron, and war horses, all other things will be reduced. Of course, there is a lot of arable land in Shandong, but Shandong people's business is far more important than agriculture. When wars are in trouble, the biggest impact is commerce. Although it is impossible to have any contact between different occupied areas, it is definitely not as smooth as it is in normal times. In addition, soldiers and bandits are rampant, the safety of the road is also a big problem. At this time, the cost of doing business is very high.

This is true in Yuzhou, Jizhou, and Qingxu. Everyone is the same, and no one can blame anyone, and they can only accept their fate. But if the trade routes occupied by the imperial court reopened, the situation will be completely different. It won’t take long for the powerful families in Jizhou and Yuzhou to shake off and be attracted by interests. They either force the Yuan family to speed up the offensive and take the whole world as soon as possible, or they will give up the Yuan family and support the court.

In that case, the foundation of the Yuan family will be disintegrated, and any king's fortune will become a dream.

"What's going on with this business road? What's the use of transporting so many silk to Luoyang?" Yuan Shu's voice was dry. In fact, Yuan Wei didn't need to answer. He also knew the answer. It must be Liu Xiu, Liu Xiu Ding Liangzhou, and sent Zhang He to the Western Regions. The purpose should be this business road.

"I'm not sure yet, but I think it's nothing more than the Western Movement." Yuan Wei frowned: "Although it's just a trickle, a thousand-foot dike collapses into an ant hole, we have to do it with caution. Once the hearts of people disperse, the world's affairs cannot be done."

Yuan Shu nodded repeatedly: "What should my father do? Attack Yanzhou immediately?"

"No, don't be impulsive." Yuan Wei waved his hand and signaled Yuan Shu to be calm. "Since you want to fight, then think carefully. I want to discuss with Benchu ​​first, and everyone will act together to win Yanzhou and Qingxu as quickly as possible. Before Liu Xiu arrives in Shandong, we must be prepared to fight him to a decisive battle." Yuan Wei said quietly: "Maybe, this is the battle that determines the life and death of my Yuan family. Once it starts, you can't stop. If you are not prepared properly, you will go into battle hastily. I'm afraid I will have no time to regret it at that time."

Yuan Shu nodded in a heavy mood. He felt a burst of fear. It turned out that he thought that Liu Xiu could relieve the pressure without having to face to face with Liu Xiu, but now he found that although Liu Xiu was standing outside the battlefield, he was constantly affecting the battlefield.

"Highway, this time we join forces with Benchu, you have to take into account the overall situation."

Yuan Shu responded, then realized that Yuan Wei's words were wrong, and quickly raised his head. Just as he was about to open his mouth, he met Yuan Wei's stern and hopeful eyes. He opened his mouth and said nothing in the end!!!
Chapter completed!